“So the first part of being friends is getting to know one another,” Etta said after they were settled at a table for lunch. “So tell me all about yourself. Start from the beginning.”

“Which beginning?” he asked.

“... Birth is pretty much the only beginning that we have as human beings.”

“That's a very long story.”

“I've got all day. Are you crunched for time?” she asked him.

He shook his head. “No. I make my own schedule.”

“Then it seems that luck is in our favor.”

Josh took a deep breath, levelling his gaze on this woman. This complete stranger. Then he did something that he rarely did- he opened up to her. Josh told her about being adopted, growing up, his time on the Mickey Mouse Club. Then he talked about N Sync and how stressful that level of fame was. He discussed how his solo career had floundered- his jealousy that Justin had been able to make it on his own. The way he'd been spending his time working behind the scenes, writing and producing for other artists. His current endeavors- including another shot at a solo record, and putting together a couple of groups to capitalize on the fact that pop really seemed to have come back to the forefront.They'd been sitting at the restaurant for hours. And Etta had been listening to him intently. It was so strange to hear about all he'd been through, but he was incredibly well spoken. A lot of the things he said were incredibly poetic, and she couldn't help but find herself in total awe of him.

“..And then I met you,” he finally finished. Heglanced at his watch- shocked he'd been talking for so long. “So what about your story?” Josh asked.

Etta laughed. “It's far less interesting than yours. I can assure you of that.”

Josh stood up, and offered his arm to Etta. “Well we should probably get out of their hair. I think we've been at this table for far longer than is appropriate. The waiter will be pleased, at least. I left him a hefty tip for his troubles.”

“It's only fair, though, if you heard my story that I get to hear yours. See what kind of a woman I'm trusting my deep, dark secrets to,” Josh said as he opened the car door for her.

She settled into the passenger seat, and shrugged. “It really isn't exciting. I was born out east,” she told him. “The coast of North Carolina. My dad, he was in the military. We came out to California when I was sixteen. It was his last assignment with the military. And afterward, we just stuck around. It was the first time we'd lived somewhere for more than a coupleof years at a time.”

“Let's see... I graduated high school, and went to school for early childhood education. I love kids. I graduated from college at the age of twenty-two. Then I got a job as a live-innanny for a wealthy couple who lived out here in Los Angeles. I worked for them until last year- when my father got sick. Then I moved back home to help take care of him. He died from cancer. By the time they found it, it was too late to do much of anything. My father died about eight months ago. Since then I've been working at a daycare close to where my mom lives. But I really miss working with just one family and one child.”

“You're right, that's not very exciting,” Josh said as he pulled back into his own driveway. “But I mean- if you really do miss working with just one family, I bet I could help you to find a job. I know a lot of people who have kids who need extra help. I'm sure the pay would be a lot better than whatever you're getting now.”

Etta shook her head. “No, there's no way I could let you do something like that for me. You've already done enough. I came here to find a way to say thank you, not to find yet another way to be in your debt.”

“Well, think about it. I have a really good friend who could definitely use the extra help.”

She followed him back inside, and graciously accepted the beer that he offered her. “I'll think about it, then. I do miss living in the city. There's a lot more to do. And with my sister recently moving in with my mom, the house feels a bit crowded. It's hard for grown women to live with one another. I swear that it's nothing like The Golden Girls.”

“I don't imagine that it would be.”

They sat in silence as they drank their beer. Etta was still surprised to find that she was beocming friends with a one time celebrity. He seemed genuinely nice and easy to talk to, and obviously was good hearted. Especially if he was willing to go out of his way, yet again, to offer her a little bit of help in her life. She could't believe that a man like this was single. This all seemed like the Hollywood beginning to a romance. A strange man does a good deed, and then the two become friends, and find themselves completely enamored with one another.

Etta was quickly enamored with him, but didn't want to be forward about it. She'd told him she could be the good friend that he needed, and she meant that. Complicating it by romance would be a disservice to her promise.

“So why do you say it's not easy to be your friend?” Etta finally asked. “From what I can tell, you seem like a perfectly kind and reasonable man.”

“You haven't known me long enough to see my flaws. I can be more than a little stubborn and self centered. You learn early on in the business that you've got to look out for yourself, because nobody else is going to do it. I tend to shut people out. I work too hard and play too little. Success is important to me. Probably more important to me than it should be.”

“Oh,” Etta said with a nod. “Well, I promise that I'll keep trying- even if you try to shut me out. I'm pretty good at getting to know pepole. And if there is one thing I've learned, it's that stubborn men really are just like petulant toddlers. And I've learned through the years how to best deal with those, believe me on that one.”

“You say that now. But you'll see, Etta. It's not going to be that easy.”

“Like I said, I'm always up for a challenge.”